DUE TO REDISTRICTING OUR ELECTION DISTRICTS HAVE CHANGED FOR THE ELECTION ON TUESDAY.
PLEASE CHECK HERE AND SEE WHAT TABLE YOUR BUILDING IS ASSIGNED TO. THIS MAKES VOTING EASIER AND FASTER. THANKS FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
59 ED
504, 510, 516, 531, 536, 540, 546 MAIN STREET
60 ED
1 East Loop Road 405, 415, 425, 455, 460, 465, 475, 480 MAIN STREET
61 ED
900 MAIN ST. 888 MAIN ST. 2,4 10, 20, 30, 40 RIVER ROAD
62 ED
551, 555, 556, 560, 575, 576, 580, 595, 625 MAIN ST.
February 1943. “NewYork. Camel cigarette advertisement at Times Square.” Photograph by John Vachon … years. I remember them so well, along with Toffenetti’s Restaurant, any Longchamps or Childs NY outlet, the Woodstock Hotel and, when …
New York circa 1910. “Incline from subway to suburban concourse, Grand Central Terminal.” 8×10 glass negative, Detroit Publishing
Coney Island, NewYork, circa 1905. “Dreamland Ballroom.” The home of light music. 8×10 inch dry … ballroom ever made, 20,000 square feet; beneath is the restaurant and a promenade, and beneath all the cool rush of the surf. The …
Downtown Brooklyn, near the Borough Hall, with the BMT Fulton Street Elevated at the right. It opened in 1888 and was closed and removed in 1940.Andy Sparberg
EARLY VOTING IS TAKING PLACE IN THE RIVAA GALLERY, 527 MAIN STREET ON THESE DATES:
Friday, November 3
8am-4pm
Saturday, November 4
9am-5pm
Sunday, November 5
9am-5pm
ELECTION DAY-TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT PS 217
FROM THE ARCHIVES
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023
MUST-SEE ART
INSTALLATIONS IN NYC,
NOVEMBER 2023
PART 2
ISSUE #1117
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
The New York Botanical Garden is bringing back its Holiday Train Show this year with the promise to be bigger and better than ever. Watch trains zip by hundreds of scale models of iconic New York buildings, like Yankee Stadium or the Empire State Building. Be sure to look above you to catch 1800s steam engines and street cars traveling over New York City bridges and through tunnels in a brand-new aerial display overhead. The team behind the show, Applied Imagination, takes an environmentally friendly route with their projects, for example using screw-bean mesquite pods to represent the hair on the Statue of Liberty model or Eucalyptus seed pods to build Saks Fifth Avenue.
mage Courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden
On select nights this holiday season, guests can visit the NYBG Train Show as well as GLOW, an extravagant outdoor light experience. The many libraries and conservatories of the Garden will transform into canvases for this light show, decked out in thousands of lights with sounds dancing across the buildings. Similar to the Holiday Train Show, the designers of GLOW opted to use energy-efficient lights to create the same glittering display with less cost to our planet. Drinks and food can be purchased at the Garden’s outdoor bars or at the Bronx Night Market pop-up that will be included for the holiday season.
Artist Keri Sheehan joins forces with the Staten Island Railway to beautify the New Dorp station. Her piece, titled “Creeping on Where Time Has Been” uses laminated glass windows and metal railings to honor Staten Island’s architecture and nature. While waiting for your train, visitors can view the art and try to spot the iconic landmarks of the borough, like the Vanderbilt Mausoleum. The project’s title comes from a poem by Charles Dickens called “The Ivy Green”, alluding to the ivy that has always, and seemingly will always, be prevalent on Staten Island.
Courtesy of the Artist and Sapar Contemporary
NYC Art in the Parks Program continues with a new large-scale exhibition by Sui Park to be installed throughout Bella Abzug Park. Titled City Ecology, this collection of 32 sculptures is a physical embodiment of the residents within New York- colorful stories, vibrant lives, and dynamic patterns. Park created these figures out of cable ties, weaving them together to form shaped masses. They will be installed throughout the park, in some cases blending into the surroundings beautifully and in other cases bringing a gorgeous contrast. Park hopes that these sculptures will give passing visitors a moment to pause and be aware of the beauty around them.
Nancy Lawson (Credit: William Matthew Prior/American Folk Art Museum
Black representation during the late 1600s to the early 1800s is undoubtedly pushed to the background of our textbooks, even more so in New England’s history. This new exhibit will give visitors a rare look into African American presence and absence in the North through 125 beautiful works, including portraits, paintings, needlework, and photos. Narratives will be flipped entirely with a walk through this highly-anticipated exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at the American Folk Art Museum from November 15th through March 24th
New York circa 1911. “Inspection room, Ellis Island.” 8×10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. (SHORPY) HARA REISER, ARON EISENPREISS AND JOYCE GOLD GOT IT RIGHT.
EARLY VOTING IS TAKING PLACE IN THE RIVAA GALLERY, 527 MAIN STREET ON THESE DATES:
Thursday, November 2
10am-8pm
Friday, November 3
8am-4pm
Saturday, November 4
9am-5pm
Sunday, November 5
9am-5pm
ELECTION DAY-TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT PS 217
FROM THE ARCHIVES
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
MUST-SEE ART INSTALLATIONS IN NYC, NOVEMBER 2023
PART 1
ISSUE #1116
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
Canstruction is a highly anticipated annual design competition, this year featuring 28 teams going head-to-head to create the best sculptures entirely out of unopened nonperishable cans of food. The teams consist of professionals in the industries of engineering and design. Once the exhibition is closed and a winner is selected, all the food used for the sculptures is donated to local food pantries. Canstruction sculptures will be on view at Brookfield Place from November 2nd to November 13th.
Photo Credit: Kat Gollock
Ring in the holiday season early with Lightscape, a nighttime illuminated trail housed for its third year at the beautiful Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The trail will have new works of art and a magical experience like never before. Guests can look out for new installations like Sea of Light which will illuminate the garden’s 100,000 square foot Cherry Esplanade, and also listen to an updated playlist featuring hits by Taylor Swift, Elton John, and some Brooklyn classics to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Lightscape will be open from November 17th to January 1st at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Photo Credit: Nora Hogan
Richard Haas’ iconic 112 Prince St. mural is currently being repainted by muralist Robin Alcantara and his team. The original trompe l’oeil mural was created in 1974 to mirror the front-facing facade of the 19th-century building. Over the years, graffiti and weather have worn on Haas’ work, leaving only a shadow of what it once was remaining. Alcantara’s venture to completely repaint the mural was a long time coming, and Soho residents and tourists alike will be pleased to see the newly refreshed final product. The painting of the mural is expected to be completed on November 1st.
Courtesy of Green-Wood. Photo Credit: Cinthya Santos-Briones
Día de los Muertos is a day in which the spirits of the dead are welcomed back into our world for a short time. It is celebrated through music, art, dancing, ofrendas, and time spent with friends and family. Cinthya Santos-Briones has crafted a beautiful community altar for Green-Wood’s Chapel. Visitors can commemorate their loved ones by lighting candles or leaving meaningful personal offerings by the altar. Santos-Briones sourced the fabrics used for the centerpiece skulls from her hometown of Tulancingo, giving the whole altar a personal feel that will touch the hearts of many. Mictlán opened on October 14th and will run daily, 10am to 5pm, through November 19th
There are many myths and legends surrounding Grand Central Terminal. We have an entire list that we’ve debunked. One of those myths, which contains slivers of truth, involves a clandestine World War II operation led by German spies, also known as saboteurs. The story goes, that these spies were sent to the United States to disrupt train travel by throwing sand into the giant rotary converters below Grand Central in the secret M42 basement power station. The truth is a bit more complicated.
During World War II, there was a German plot to disrupt wartime operations in the United States. It was well documented and railroad infrastructure sites were targeted. The plan was called Operation Pastorius. Operation Pastorius involved eight saboteurs with a mission to “slow down production at certain factories concerned with the American war effort.” To do so, they were instructed to “interfere with transportation systems, including railways and canals,” according to a 1943 report. The main targets were aluminum factories and cryolite plants, materials vital for wartime necessities like artillery, ammunition, and aircraft construction.
Many railroad infrastructure sites were targets of this plot including Hell Gate Bridge and Newark Penn Station. Routes traveling through those two sites were vital links for the movement of military supplies and personnel, so taking out those hubs would have been a strategic move. However, in the many extensive reports about the operation that came out later, Grand Central Terminal was never mentioned as a target. In a list of targets published by the New York Timesin 1942, Grand Central is not listed.
The saboteurs had extensive training on the most effective ways to achieve their goals of sabotage. According to the 1943 report, they were advised to attack the most vulnerable parts of a train including the pressure pipes that control the brake system, signals and switches, and parts of tracks that curve or go over bridges and are therefore harder to repair. No mention of power plants.
The saboteurs had extensive training on the most effective ways to achieve their goals of sabotage. According to the 1943 report, they were advised to attack the most vulnerable parts of a train including the pressure pipes that control the brake system, signals and switches, and parts of tracks that curve or go over bridges and are therefore harder to repair. No mention of power plants.
The saboteurs of Operation Pastorius arrived in the U.S. via U-boats in the summer of 1942, landing in Florida and Long Island. From the shores of Amagansett, they traveled into New York City, taking the LIRR and arriving at Penn Station. Two saboteurs, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin, stayed at the Martinique Hotel in Midtown, now Martinique New York on Broadway, Curio Collection by Hilton. Two other saboteurs on the New York team, including leader (and eventual whistleblower) George John Dasch, stayed at the Hotel Governor Clinton, now the Stewart Hotel. According to Martinique New York’s resident historian Tara Williams, Heinck and Quirin felt exposed in the public space, and found the room rates to be quite expensive!
You can learn more about the spies’ hotel stay, and how they were eventually caught, at our upcoming after-dark tour of Martinique New York! At this Halloween week experience, you’ll hear tales of the many spirits alleged to linger at the 125-year-old landmark, from the daring but doomed acrobat who met his demise while promoting a 1923 silent film, to the mischievous guest, Sara, whose spectral pranks have been caught on film.
WATCH OUR I AM PRESERVATION ON INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/p/CzEn5zPodM1/?hl=enWEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY SEND YOUR SUBMISSION TO: ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COMTUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY Circa 1904. “Seeing New York.” Electric omnibuses at the Flatiron Building. 8×10 inch dry plate glass … made by the Vehicle Equipment Company of Long Island City, New York.
CREDITS SHORPY THE HISTORIC AMERICAN PHOTO ARCHIVES
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
JUDITH BERDY MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
Circa 1904. “Seeing New York.” Electric omnibuses at the Flatiron Building. 8×10 inch dry plate glass … made by the Vehicle Equipment Company of Long Island City, New York.
CREDITS
SHORPY THE HISTORIC AMERICAN PHOTO ARCHIVES
UNTAPPED NEW YORK
JUDITH BERDY
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
